A Seal of My Affection
by kingfalchuk
Summary: Zookeeper!Finn needs a new assistant, but that's the last thing he wants... some old, fat guy following him around all day. But when she walks in, he thinks this might not be a bad idea after all.


**A/N:** I have no idea where this came from, but I decided to write it. All the mistakes are mine. I hope you enjoy it!

* * *

The sun rose over the zoo as Finn Hudson arrived at work. He'd been working at the zoo with his friend, Sam, for two years before the manager of the zoo thought Finn could do the job on his own, so Sam moved to help with the aquarium.

For the last year Finn had been working alone with the two fur seals, Whiskers and Rocky. He thought the job was pretty easy, and after the first few weeks, the smell of fish didn't bother him anymore. The only thing that really bothered him about the job was the guy who worked in with the polar bears, Barry. He was an overweight man who has been trying to take Finn's job for years, but was never successful. The owners of the zoo insisted that Finn was the best person for the job and that no one was going to take his job.

Though today, when Finn arrived, Barry cornered him with some bad news.

"Finn, uh, the owners of the zoo seem to think you need an assistant." He says.

"What? Why?"

"They didn't give a reason."

"But i'm doing perfectly fine on my own. I don't want someone helping me." Finn said, waving his arms in the air. "All they're going to do is get in the way."

Barry ignored him. "Word is if you can't find someone within the week then i'm going to be the one helping you."

Finn rolled his eyes. That was the _last _thing he wanted. "Oh, don't worry, i'll find someone."

Barry sighed and turned away, but he spoke loud enough for Finn to hear him say, "you won't, and you'll be working with me before you know it," with an evil chuckle at the end. Finn hated that guy.

* * *

So four days had gone past and Finn still hadn't found anyone. To be honest, he didn't even try and look for someone. He certainly didn't want some stupid middle aged guy to get in his way the whole day. Though, he knew that the owners would find someone, they didn't really like Barry either.

He was chopping up fish for the seals when Mr Everitt walked in. He was the owner of the zoo and even though Finn was a little scared of him, he seemed to like Finn.

"So," he started. "I guess you've heard that you need to get an assistant?"

"Yes." Finn answered. "But I don't really -"

"It's too late for that Finn." Mr Everitt continued. "I've already found you one."

"Oh."

"She'll be starting here tomorrow. Be. Nice. To. Her."

"O-okay.." Finn replied. "Wait.. her?"

"Yes." Mr Everitt said. "Her. She'll be here tomorrow."

Finn nodded and Mr Everitt turned around, leaving Finn to think about what had just happened. There was only one thing worse than a middle aged grumpy man hanging around... and that was a middle aged grumpy woman.

"Well.. I better enjoy my last day of freedom." Finn said to himself before turning back to cutting up the fish.

* * *

Early the next day Finn was running late. He'd overslept after his alarm didn't go off and he was now rushing. This was definitely a good way to make a good impression on the new assistant, even though he was convinced that she was going to hate him.

As he ran around the corner he skidded, double taking as he realised she was already there. Okay, she was certainly not some middle aged woman. She didn't look much older (or younger) than Finn.

"Uh, hey." Finn said. "I guess you're my new assistant?"

"Yes." She replied. "I'm Rachel." She held out her hand and Finn shook it.

"Finn."

She nods and for the first time, he really notices her. From the way her hair is split into adorable pigtails, right down to the way she's placed a row of gold stars around the top of her gumboots.

He leads her into the room where all of the food preparation is done. She's the new kid, right? He should be making her do all the jobs that he dislikes. He shows her how to cut the fish up properly and then fills two buckets up, one for each of the seals.

"Time to feed them." He announces, and he sees the panic on her face.

"I – I don't think," she pauses, "I can."

"Wait.. you're not scared of them are you?" he asks.

She shakes her head. Finn gives her a look to suggest that he knows she's lying. "Okay, fine," she throws her hands in the air. "I am scared."

He smiles back, he can't help it if he thinks that's adorable. "Here, carry this at least." He says, handing her one of the buckets. "I'll do all the feeding if you like." She nods.

"Okay, this way then." He says, leading them out of the room. She follows him down a tight corridor before they reach a door, he pushes it open and her eyes immediately go to the two animals already on their way towards them. Finn walks out to the seals, but she stays with her feet firmly planted in the doorway.

"They won't hurt you." He says, sighing. "I won't let them hurt you."

She nods. "Okay." She says, barely louder than a whisper, and she slowly steps out onto the wet concrete, towards Finn and the seals. She stops so that her body is behind Finn's, safe from anything the seals might do.

"Here, let me introduce them." He says. "But you're going to have to come a bit closer."

She doesn't move.

"Perfectly safe, I promise. I wouldn't be allowed in here if they were going to hurt me." He says, watching her as she moves to Finn's side, so she can see both the seals.

He points to one of the seals, "that's Rocky." She nods, so he points to the larger one. "And that's Whiskers."

One of the seals, Rocky, makes a move towards them, and Rachel steps back behind Finn, worried that something might happen to her. "Guys, this is Rachel, she's going to be helping me from now on. Now, don't hurt her." He says.

Finn kneels down on the ground, and both the seals move closer. He holds out a fish for each of them and they carefully take it from him. Finn holds out his hands so Rachel can see them. "See, I still have all my fingers." He jokes, she giggles. He feeds them more, and within ten minutes, both the buckets are almost empty.

Finn directs his eyes to Rachel, who is still standing behind him, still terrified. "Come here." He says, motioning with his head. "Your turn."

Tentatively, she takes a step closer to Finn, kneeling down beside him. He holds out a fish for her to take, and even though she'd never eat one herself, she takes it from him, ignoring the way her fingers tingle when his brush past hers.

"Feed it to Rocky," he says, "the smaller one."

She holds the fish out towards the seal and he takes it from her eagerly. Rachel lets out a breath that she didn't even know she was holding. The seal didn't hurt her, and now she can relax a little, so she does, resting back on her feet a little. She shoots Finn a small smile and for the first time since he met her this morning, he's beginning to realise that having an assistant might not be such a bad idea.

* * *

For the first week that Rachel's around Finn finds out that she's actually more helpful that he realised. And she's getting more confident around the seals. She'll actually come out from behind Finn to feed them, and sometimes, like today, she'll be the first one at the door to feed them.

"Someone's eager." He points out.

"I just... need to get to know them better." She tells him. "So they'll trust me."

"Rachel, they'll trust anyone who will bring them their food."

"Yeah, I guess that's true." She admits.

Finn likes this more confident Rachel. He's learned that when she's comfortable, she'll talk way more than she should. The seals seem to like her more too, especially Rocky. And Finn thinks that might be because they're both small.

* * *

On her tenth day there he suggests that it's time to learn how to help with the seal shows that run twice a day during the summer, once at 11am and the other at 2:30pm.

He takes her outside again, with the two seals following behind. She sits down to watch them.

"Okay, ready?" Finn asks.

"Yes."

He holds his right arm up in the air and almost instantly, both of the seals have copied his action. Rachel can't help the huge grin on her face.

With time comes her turn and it's not long before she learns that the seals don't take commands from her. They'll watch her, but they'll never return the action. It's frustrating really; they _always _do the right thing when it's Finn commanding them.

He sees the sad look on her face and thinks that perhaps they should stop for now.

"Rachel, I think that's enough for today." He says.

"But they're not doing it." She says, throwing her hands down by her sides.

'They will, they just need time." He tells her. "They certainly didn't do it for me the first time I tried."

She nods, she knows he's right. "Okay." She agrees, letting her shoulders fall.

She follows slightly behind Finn as he locks up the seals for the night. She smiles up at him when he holds the door open for her on their way out.

* * *

On her thirteenth day working with Finn they have to clean the pool for the seals. It's the one in the enclosure out the back, thank god, or otherwise they'd have to clean it at night time. The seals are out on public display and that makes it _so _much easier to clean right now.

Once the pool is emptied they both have to get in there and scrub the walls. Finn is actually really glad that someone is there to help him do this, even if she is only 5 foot 2.

The edges of the pool stand taller than Rachel does, and once she gets in, she wonders how she's ever going to get out.

"Here." He says, holding out a broom for her to take. "You can wash that side," he says, pointing to the opposite side of the pool, "While I wash this side."

She takes the broom from him and wanders across to the other side, aimlessly scrubbing the side of the pool, her mind thinking about a thousand other things at the same time. Finn's using the hose to wash the other side, and it's not long before she can feel the water splashing around the bottom of her gumboots. She starts playing with the water, kicking her foot backwards and forwards while she keeps moving the broom.

She's only brought out of her thoughts when she feels the cold water splash down on her head. She squeals loudly and turns to face Finn.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry Rach." He says, taking a step towards her.

"Yeah, you should be." She says, moving towards him. Great, now he feels terrible. He can see where the water hit her, flattening part of her hair. She's close enough now that Finn thinks she's going to reach up and slap him or something, but she doesn't. Instead, she slowly bends down, putting her hands in the water and splashing him back.

He looks to her, she's definitely trying to hold her laugh in. "Oh, that's it, you're gonna get it." He says, wetting her even more with the hose.

Rachel jumps up, trying to grab the hose, but he's holding up too high. He laughs at her and she takes the opportunity to grab it from him. "Ha." She says as she points the hose towards him.

He tries to fight it off, but it's long before he's soaking wet. She laughs at him and runs the other way, hose pointing behind her. Only she's not watching where she's going and she trips and falls into the water. His laughter stops once he sees her eyes closed, and he rushes over to her.

"Rach, rach, wake up." He says, placing his hand on her arm. She doesn't move. He bends down, onto his knees. His face now inches from hers and he's honestly about to pick her up and take her somewhere like the hospital when she bursts into a fit of giggles.

She opens her eyes just in time to see the relief in his face. "That wasn't funny." He says, moving to stand up, but she places her hands on his chest, and pushes him back lightly, so he too is now lying in the water.

She's quick to stand up and move across to the other side of the pool, so he can't grab her again. He sits up and she starts laughing at him, her body doubling over as she holds her stomach. He just has to laugh along with her.

She looks down at her gumboots, there's really no need for them anymore, since she's dripping from head to toe. She can hear the water splashing and she knows that Finn is now on his feet, but she can't look at him, all she can look at is her gumboots, a few of the gold stars peeling off. It doesn't matter right now, she'll replace them later.

He stops walking when his gumboots are touching the ends of hers and she has to look up to see his face. He smiles as he brushes a strand of wet hair off her face and she bites her bottom lip at the action as she closes her eyes.

She feels him bend down slowly and everything in her mind is screaming at her to back away before something happens. She doesn't go anywhere. She feels him grab onto both her hands, effectively pulling her closer to him. Her eyes don't open when she feels his lips touch hers slightly, she wants to kiss him back, she does, but her body doesn't seem to be moving at all. His lips linger on hers, and she kinda hates it when he pulls away.

She opens her eyes to look at him, and she offers him a small smile. He only lets go of her hands. "I've gotta go, i'm sorry." He says quietly, and she doesn't say anything back, she just watches him as he retreats back inside. She's still trying to process what just happened.

* * *

When Finn arrives to work in the morning he realises that the pool is full again. Rachel obviously stayed back to finish cleaning it and he feels terrible about it. She walks in the door five minutes after he does and she gives him a smile before putting her things down and walking to cut up the fish.

He runs in after her. "I'm sorry Rach, I really am."

She doesn't look up from what she's doing. "You don't have to apologize."

"I know you're angry at me." He says.

"I'm not angry at you." She says back.

"Oh. Well I am sorry for leaving you to finish cleaning the pool you know."

She waves it off with her hand like it's not a big deal, even though Finn knows it is. He definitely knows how long it takes to fill that thing back up. He's relieved that she's not angry at him for it, but he still feels terrible.

"I still want to make it up to you though." She looks up to him. "How would you like to come over for pizza after work?" He can't stop the words from flowing out of his mouth, and he instantly regrets opening his big mouth at all.

She looks away from him, turning her attention back to the fish she's still cutting up. He almost doesn't hear her response because it's too quiet. "I would love to."

* * *

He waits for her to finish before leading her out to his car. The drive to his place is silent, but definitely not awkward and he keeps looking over at her to make sure she's still comfortable with this.

They fall silent on his couch again after ordering the pizza, and Rachel nervously plays with a string on her shirt.

"I like the gold stars on your boots." He blurts out, and he's honestly not sure where that came from.

She smiles to herself. "Thank you Finn." She tells him. "They're a metaphor. I want to be a star." He watches her expression drop. "Or that was the plan, anyway."

She's definitely sad about this, so Finn doesn't press her to say anymore, but she goes into it anyway.

"It was my dream, to be on B- Broadway." She sniffles, wiping her nose. "But that didn't work out the way it was supposed to."

She's basically crying on his couch and Finn has no idea on what to do to comfort her. So he puts his hand tentatively on her knee. She looks up at him, smiles and takes a deep breath before continuing her story.

"I was so stupid. I thought i'd have a few Tony's to my name by now. But i've never even been in a show; i've_ never_ had a role." She wipes the tear away from her cheek. "And I don't even know how i've ended up with the job at the zoo."

He doesn't say anything, perhaps he should, but he just nods. The doorbell rings and he gets up to grab the pizza from the delivery guy.

They sit on his couch and eat the pizza. He offers her a beer, because it's like, totally the best thing to have with pizza, but she replies with a "no thanks," so he doesn't get one for himself either.

Minutes pass, and yeah, this time the silence is borderline awkward.

"I really am sorry for kissing you, you know?" he says, breaking the silence, even though he didn't want to bring it up at all.

"It's fine Finn, honestly." She says. "It's not like I pulled away or anything." She admits, blushing a little as a smiles toys on her lips.

He looks over to her and she's already looking at him. She can't help but break into a smile as he laughs with her.

She composes herself again, licking her lips as she looks down. They both fall silent and she rests her hand against her leg on the space on the couch between them. She drops her head on the back of the couch and for the first time she feels like she can let her guard down, so she closes her eyes too.

She hears Finn let out a breath, but she doesn't open her eyes. Finn shifts on the couch, she's not sure where he's moved to, but she jumps when she hears his whisper.

"So would you be against it if I were to do it again?" She can feel his lips brush past her ear just before he leans away.

"No." She says quietly, she still has her eyes closed. She thinks it would be much more difficult to answer if she opened them.

He presses his lips against hers, waiting for some kind of reaction. Only she doesn't move, he's beginning to wonder if she wants this at all. He's about to pull away when he feels her kiss him back, her hand winding through his hair and around his neck.

He smiles and breaks away, watching her as she opens her eyes. She smiles back; this is definitely something that she wants. He slips his arm around her shoulder as she relaxes into him, her head resting on his shoulder.

They stay like that for what seems like forever, the only sound in the room is the sound of their breathing. Rachel feels like she could fall asleep, but there's a nagging in the back of her mind that's telling her to leave him and go home.

So, reluctantly, she pulls out of his arms and stands. "I'm sorry, I have to go." She tells him, and he reaches forward to grab her hand. He nods, stands up too and pulls her towards himself. Her arms wind around his waist as he holds her close.

"Okay." He says, releasing his grip.

"I'll see you tomorrow Finn." She says, walking towards the door.

"Wait." He calls out, and she stops and turns to face him. "I just have to do something first."

He crosses the room in a few strides, placing his finger underneath her chin, forcing her to look up at him. He bends down, his face inching closer to hers until their lips meet. It's slow, but passionate, and all too soon they break away from each other. She just smiles at him.

"Goodnight Finn." She yells over her shoulder as she exits the room.

"Night Rach." He replies.

* * *

Finn is happy in the morning as he walks into work, though he's kinda late. Rachel's already there, cutting the fish for the seals. He drops a kiss in her hair as he walks past, and he knows he doesn't make it up when he feels her lean into him.

"Hey." He says.

"Hey yourself." She replies.

She turns and kisses him once, slowly, before sinking back down. "I have to feed them." She says, holding up the buckets. He nods and follows her outside. He sits back and watches as she feeds them and when she's done he realises that it's the first time she's fed the seals entirely on her own.

* * *

A month later and she's really happy with the way she's connecting with the seals. And well, with Finn too. The sun is just beginning to set when they decide to practice for the seal shows again.

They get the seals out the back, and Finn has a good feeling about today. The seals are acting friendlier to Rachel now, that's definitely a good thing.

Starting off slow, she puts her hand up in the air, watching the two seals, waiting for any reaction. Nothing. She looks down to her feet. She's ready to quit already. But, she hears one of the seals bark, and looks up to see Rocky lifting his flipper into the air.

Rachel gets excited, a blur of colour as she jumps up and down, waving her arms excitedly. She hugs Finn in celebration.

"That's the first time!" she squeaks. He's happy for her, it's about time those seals start paying attention to her.

"Yeah." He can't wipe the smile off his face. "You're getting really good with them. Especially Rocky, he likes you a lot."

"Thanks Finn." She can't wipe the smile off her face either.

He steps forward, rubbing his hand on the back of his neck. "Uh, Rach, is it okay if I go and do something for a few minutes. Like, will you be okay with these two?" he gestures to the seals.

"Absolutely Finn." She says. "Go."

He leaves them for ten minutes and when he returns, somehow, she's got both the seals copying her actions as they follow her around.

"Hey." Finn says carefully as he watches them.

"Hello." She says, turning her head around to see him.

"I'm so proud of you." He says. "Can I try something?"

"Of course."

She sits down on one of the large rocks. "Close your eyes." Finn says, so she does. She can't hear anything, and she wonders if Finn took off again. But seconds later she hears him. "Go." He says loudly. The next thing she feels is one of the seals kissing her cheek. Rachel laughs and opens her eyes.

"Close them again, please." She does.

This time when he says "go" she feels the two seals press a kiss on each of her cheeks, she squeals. She can't help but giggle, one day she wants to be able to tell them to do this.

"One more time," Finn says, and she closes her eyes once more. Once again she feels two kisses, one on each of her cheeks. But, different from last time... she feels a seal on one side, and Finn on the other. When she opens her eyes she sees him grinning at her and she resists the urge to roll her eyes.

"Okay Rach, one more time." This time she does roll her eyes at him. "I promise you, this will be the last time."

She nods. "Okay, fine."

She closes her eyes again, but opens them just after Finn says "go". She looks around to see Rocky on one side and Finn on the other. He has his eyes closed, so she takes the opportunity to have a little fun. She holds her hand out in the direction of Rocky, effectively getting him to stop.

At the last second she turns her head towards Finn, kissing him full on the lips. He hums in appreciation, wrapping his arm around her waist. His eyes open and she laughs against his lips as he tightens his grip on her. She stands up from the rock, both her hands moving around his neck as she jumps, wrapping both her legs around his waist, and making it easier for the both of them. Luckily, he catches her, one of his hands holding her up, the other at the base of her neck.

They stay like that until the seals start to bark impatiently. Reluctantly, they pull away and she slips back down to the ground. He grabs her around the waist as she buries her face into his chest and giggles.

He holds her close as they usher the seals back into bed for another night.

* * *

Two weeks later and summer is in full swing. Finn's been performing the seal show for a week now, with Rachel's assistance, of course.

There were more pizza nights at Finn's house and a lot of late nights at the zoo. Not for any particular reason, just because they didn't want to leave each other just yet. It's fair to say that they really enjoyed spending their time together.

It was Thursday when Finn came up with his master plan. He was going to get Rachel to perform the seal show next week. But when he told her, it didn't go very well.

"Hey Rach," he began, "Uh, i've been thinking."

She looked to him, curiosity in her eyes.

"I want you to do the seal shows next week." He blurted out.

She just stared back at him in shock. She looked down, fiddling with her shirt. He heard her sniff, hoping that he didn't make her cry, but she stayed silent.

"Please say something Rachel." Finn said, sitting down as well.

"Are you going to be away or something?" she asked quietly, her eyes still looking down.

"No. I'd just like you to do it."

"No, no, I- I can't Finn." She stood abruptly, shaking her head. "Sorry."

She hurries out of the room, leaving a confused Finn to figure out what had just happened. Performing was her dream, wasn't it? So why wasn't she jumping at the opportunity to perform? He hears the click of the door followed by her fading footsteps.

Finn sits with his head in his hands for what seems like hours, his attention shooting to the door when he hears her tiny knock.

"Come in." Finn called.

She opened the door just enough so she could slide through, closing it after her.

"I'm sorry." She whispered. "I don't know what happened. I –I just froze up."

He sees a stray tear fall from her eyes, so he reaches out and places his hand on her arm.

"I think i'm scared because performing was my dream," she admits. "Broadway. It was everything I ever wanted to be. When you asked, I just thought of my failed dreams, and I had to get away."

"Rachel," he says. "It's fine. I'm not going to pressure you into doing the shows. I love doing them an-"

"No," she cuts him off. "I actually want to do them. Well, at least one."

He doesn't miss the way her eyes light up when he says she can do one. He doesn't miss the way she jumps into his embrace. He certainly doesn't miss it when she kisses his cheek as a way of saying thank you.

They decide on Tuesday for her to do the show. Finn is of course, happy for her to do more than that if she wants.

* * *

Finn arrives earlier than usual on Tuesday morning, and Rachel is already there. She's jumping and running around all enthusiastically and he knows she's been so excited about this since last week, even if she denies it when he asks.

"Hey." He announces. "Rach, Rach, Rachel!" He grabs her wrist as she runs past. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Finn!" she says, almost sings. She jumps up to kiss him, before bouncing off again. "Never been better," she calls out.

"Rachel?" He calls back. "Can you come here for a minute?"

"Sure Finn." He hears her yell, followed by her running into the room. He can't help but smile at her enthusiasm. She sits down on the edge of the chair, her knee bouncing up and down. He has to put a hand on her knee to stop her.

"I have something for you... a gift." He says. He sees her eyes light up. "But you have to stay here while I get it, okay?"

She nods. "Okay."

He goes to the door, on the way to his car, but he checks to make sure she's still sitting there. She flashes her brightest smile back to him.

He's gone for a few minutes, before he returns with a large gift bag in his hands.

"I, uh, wanted to get you something, you know, for your first show." He explains, his free hand running along the back of his neck. He holds the bag out to her and she takes it, placing it on the floor before peeking inside.

She looks up from the bag, he can see tears in her eyes.

"Finn.." she chokes out. He doesn't know how to react, so he just stands there, watching her as a tear slides down her face. She stands, jumping into his arms, her legs wrapping around his waist. "Thank you, so much." His grip around her tightens.

"So you like them then?" he asks.

"Yes Finn," her breathing is heavy. "I love them."

He places her down. "You should try them on." He says, and she carefully takes them out of the bag. She takes her time to fully admire them now. Her new, bright pink gumboots, with the gold stars placed around the top. She slides her feet in, wiggling her toes. "They fit?" he asks.

"Yeah," she says, "thank you so much Finn." She reaches up on her toes to hug him again. As they pull away, her gaze flickers to his lips, and before he can register what's happening, she's kissing him. Her tongue forces its way into his mouth, and he kisses her back forcefully, his hands tangling in her hair. He doesn't want to stop kissing her, but she breaks away for air.

"Are you ready?" he asks. "It's time."

"I'm so nervous, but so, so ready." She says, her blinding smile stretching across her face.

He grabs her hand and leads her outside, yeah, he knows she's ready for this.

* * *

"You've got this. You'll be amazing." He tells her, his hands on her shoulders. "I believe in you."

She looks up. "Really?"

"Absolutely."

"Thank you so much Finn." She says, giving him the tiniest of kisses before attaching the microphone pack to the belt in her jeans. She nods to him once before walking out in front of the crowd.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to today's live seal show!" her voice booms across the loudspeakers as the water splashes around the bottom of her brand new pink gumboots. "Here we have Rocky and Whiskers."

Finn sneaks around the side, and into the crowd, sitting in an empty seat a few rows back. He watches the entire show from there. His favourite is when she calls people down from the crowd so the seals can kiss them on the cheek. Or when she gets the seals to perform all the tricks in the pool. He doesn't know, he can't pick a favourite really, he enjoys the entire show. She sees him sitting there, and she flashes a smile at him.

"Thank you ladies and gentlemen for joining us today." She says, holding her hand towards the two seals, who both bow for the crowd. Her soft laughter floats through the loudspeakers. "Bye." She waves towards the crowd, her smile bigger than Finn has ever seen.

As he watches her there, he knows she's made for this. Performing is exactly what she does best. And sure, it's not exactly Broadway, but he's happy that she gets to do what she loves. So when she comes over to him after everyone has cleared out, he tells her that before kissing her deeply.

Okay, so the idea of hiring an assistant wasn't so bad.

* * *

**A/N: **Well, there you go. You know what to do now. ;)


End file.
